Evidence shows that anti-depressants likely do more harm than good, researchers find

Commonly prescribed anti-depressants appear to be doing patients more harm than good, say researchers who have published a paper examining the impact of the medications on the entire body.

"We need to be much more cautious about the widespread use of these drugs," says Paul Andrews, an evolutionary biologist at McMaster University and lead author of the article, published today in the online journal Frontiers in Psychology.

"It's important because millions of people are prescribed anti-depressants each year, and the conventional wisdom about these drugs is that they're safe and effective."

Andrews and his colleagues examined previous patient studies into the effects of anti-depressants and determined that the benefits of most anti-depressants, even taken at their best, compare poorly to the risks, which include premature death in elderly patients.

1. What? 15 minutes with a GP to diagnose and treat is not working. Who would have thought?

Actual Psychiatric care in the US is at best MIA at worst harmful to your health. You cannot give brain altering drugs to patients and then not monitor them or expect them the monitor themselves after all their brain chemistry is being changed and all these drugs work differently on all people.

We were not groomed to live in the world we find ourselves in today and are being blamed for. sort of like blaming the slaughter of turkeys we raise today on their lack of initiative, we took away all choices, all chances and let criminals actually steal our children's future, our comfort in old age for a few baubles and a lot of hot air.

3. Any medicine does more harm than good if given indiscriminately

Antidepressants are often literally lifesaving to people who suffer from severe depression - and frankly I'd rather die a bit earlier without the pain of such depression, than a bit later with such pain (or perhaps earlier through suicide).

However, antidepressants are sometimes prescribed indiscriminately to people with other disorders, who are much less likely to benefit from them; and also there is sometimes insufficient follow-up. Any medicine that can do good, can also have side-effects; and it's important to check up on how patients are responding.

4. Old, old news. Pretty much every meta-study comes to this conclusion.

Back in the sixties, there were spies everywhere. There were psychologists everywhere, studying people. The CIA was gobbling acid. There were conspiratorial weirdos running around from both sides, and mysterious other sides.

And we made a huge number of spy movies, and spy stories, and spy toys. They were everywhere, even spoofs like Get Smart!

After antidepressants became de rigeur, the 'zombie' meme overwhelmed our society. Is there a connection?

5. They do seem overprescribed...

In my naive layman's view, I suspect they would be most helpful in cases where the depression is due to chemical imbalance in the brain, but not if depression is caused by life events. I know depression is not sadness, but I was rather taken aback when our neighbour was prescribed them when she was dealing with her husband's death. That doesn't seem right somehow, but like my father before me, I'm a melancholiac who self-treats with alcohol. That's not smart either.